Pieces of Peace
by Pedgeon
Summary: There is no inheritor for One for All. All Might weakens by the day with nobody to take his place. No single human could ever match up to such a legend. So, a project is begun to train a group of students from U.A. Academy to become the perfect team and to together take on the title of the Symbol of Peace. But, there is justice for nobody and such a farce will never be accepted.
1. Chapter 1

He watched the slime-monster he thought he had just defeated envelop the boy he thought he had just saved.

He watched as the blond boy's struggling finally ceased.

He watched as the other heroes did his job, not as quickly and not as well.

He watched as two children died because he didn't have the strength of mind and will to break down his own limitations and failed to save either of them.

Heart heavy, the great All Might, defender of the innocent and Symbol of Peace, walked back to his home to prepare for his new job as a teacher.

He sat back into the couch as Nedzu had instructed, hoping dearly that the principal would remember something he had to do that might cut his lecture short. He had wanted to at least be able to teach for a portion of his class' rescuing test, but if he couldn't, he at least wanted to make an appearance. Thirteen and Aizawa could handle the teaching on their own.

Nedzu dropped down from the desk he had been perched upon, scampering to the floor in an animalistic fashion before popping back up on two feet and putting his hands behind his back to face All Might. "Have you decided who your successor will be, then?"

All Might, looking disgruntled, stared for a second and shook his head. "I've haven't even been with the kids for a month."

"Ah, I see, I see. Of course, such an important choice would require very thorough thinking! However, while I do encourage you to take your time, you should remember that we are on a time limit, after all. Your health will only continue to decline, and the public will need a new Symbol of Peace once you're gone. We need all the time we have to train one up."

"Well, that's what I'm here for, isn't it?" All Might said gruffly. "And even if the successor doesn't become ready in time, one of the other pro-heroes can take my seat."

Nedzu wagged his finger at All Might while shaking his head. "Unfortunately, that would never do," he said soberly. "All the other pros who are competent enough to become the Symbol of Peace are already well-established in the mind's eye of the public, so they can't set any new impressions."

"But the underground ones, like Aiza-"

"And most of those who have been avoiding the media have the wrong temperament or simply aren't strong enough."

All Might sighed, looking down. "So it's gotta be one of the kids. Who do you think would work?"

"Well, the truth is, I have no clue! I've never spoken to any of them. Who's left the best impression on you?"

"Most of them aren't even worth mentioning. Iida is smart and has good a good lineage, but his quirk is underwhelming and he isn't the best-natured. Tokoyami and Shinsou are powerful but their quirks are better suited for villains. Todoroki is powerful, but the Symbol of Peace has to have some kind of charisma. He might make a good number two someday, a powerful hero who just can't make himself beloved by the people. Yaoyorozu is smart and strong as well, but her quirk isn't suited for being a front-liner either."

"Ah, so many of your complaints are about their quirks. Don't forget, you'll be passing on One for All to them, so that's not really anything to worry about. Purely based on personality, who would you say would be the best pick?"

"...Aoyama."

The principal tapped his forehead with a finger, trying to recall who the mentioned student was. "Do you mean the boy who can shoot a laser from his naval region?"

"Yes."

"I don't know, I think he might be a bit over the top…"

"That was my point," All Might said sullenly. "None of them would work. They're all too soft, too cold, too plain. Even if they could manage the persona, it would have to be faked, and the people will catch on to the disingenuous behaviour."

"I see, that is quite a conundrum. Well, let's think about this for a while. Do you have any solutions in mind?"

"No. None." Seeing his opening after he had already said the words, All Might added in, hurriedly, "Why don't we think about this for now and talk about it again tomorrow?"

His ploy was unnoticed entirely, however, as Nedzu seemed uninterested in ending their conversation. "No, I think we're headed somewhere interesting. If none of your students has the capacity to become the Symbol of Peace, how can we fix that?"

All Might looked at him, almost glaring, without replying.

"Well, while your initial complaints were that their quirks were unsuited to the task, you quickly realised that their individual personalities wouldn't work either. So why don't we look at why All Might's persona worked so well?"

All Might looked at Nedzu, finally interested.

"Of course, your biggest achievement was in defeating All for One, or the great villain who terrorised everyone. Of course, you were fairly popular before this, and big victories will come naturally to the one who becomes the Symbol of Peace, so we can take this out of the equation. The other big factor is that you're a hero everyone aspires to be, can relate to, and can see as someone who is almost a god amongst them while still being an equal. Essentially, your popularity is because you are peerless, yet still present yourself as touchable by the common man. Do you have any thoughts stemming from this?"

All Might shook his head, frowning, but focussed. "Go on."

"Actually, I have an idea. If one person can't match you, why don't we form a new group of heroes to take your place together? If their personalities are diverse enough, there will be something for everyone to connect to, and we can market them like characters, which should help their popularity."

All Might shook his head. "But who will get One for All? Who'll be the new Symbol of Peace?"

"None of them, of course, and all of them."

* * *

Thirteen was defeated immediately. He engaged the villain nearest to him, and had his own quirk turned on him only moments later.

The remaining students could only watch, rooted to their spots.

They couldn't win against even one real villain without a real hero, even as the rest of the students slowly trickled back from all the places they had been sent to, none of them could do anything. The villain with the warping quirk stood menacingly in front of the gate, blocking their passage but not taking any more offensive actions, whether it be from a fear of disobedience or a reluctance to willingly harm children.

But, they could not pass, they could not fight, and they had no help.

They stood, quaking and unharmed, until at last, Todoroki fought his way out of the landslide zone and made it back to them, and froze the villain into a chunk of ice without a blink. "I'm going to go help Aizawa-sensei," he said, and turned and left. The stunned gazes of the others following him. "You should all flee and go get help."

"I'll go too," Tsuyu croaked, but nobody else seemed to have the courage to follow her lead.

As she hopped forwards, Yaoyorozu reached out and stopped her. "No, don't go, you two. I saw a glimpse of the fight when Jirou, Kaminari and I were coming back. He's losing, badly. We should all escape and bring back people who can really fight."

"We don't need everyone to do that," Tsuyu replied, and ran after Todoroki.

Neither she nor Todoroki looked back at their classmates, both knowing that the other was thinking the same things: Selfish. Cowards.

But even Todoroki stopped when he saw the battlefield.

It was littered with the unconscious or dead bodies of countless defeated villains, with only two figures left moving: The blue-haired man with the disembodied hands clutching at his body, and a too-muscular raven crouched over the body of their teacher, bloodying the ground around him in a growing radius.

Todoroki stumbled closer, Tsuyu behind him, just near enough to hear the one-sided conversation broken by bouts of manic laughter.

He and Tsuyu watched, crouched just barely out of view, dumbstruck.

And then there was a hand drifting too fast towards Tsuyu and an insane face following it; it latched onto her face and stayed, but nothing happened.

"...Damn it. You really are cool aren't you?"

Momentary stunning vanishing in an instant, Tsuyu wrenched herself free and dived into the water as he slammed his hand to the ground and encased their attacker in a pillar of ice.

The bird looked at him and charged. He was unable to see its movements, but it seemed to be trying to free his master rather than kill him. As he fell back from his own loss of balance, Tsuyu caught him in her tongue and launched him up, and he froze over both the villains again as soon as he straightened out in the air.

He landed hard, unsteady on his legs, but rushed to join Tsuyu beside Aizawa, amazed by the fact that he, against all odds, was struggling to his feet with the girl's support, and despite looking extremely unsteady, seemed like he was preparing to keep fighting.

He was right to do so, and unlike Tsuyu and Todoroki, was ready when the bird broke out of its encasement and smashed the other's as soon as it got out. Before the human villain could do anything else, Aizawa was already on top of him, weapon wrapped tightly around his opponent's neck as he sprinted towards him, quirk activated, and leaped backwards using the villain and his scarf as a springboard. His movements were sloppy and slow in comparison to his usual standard, but the attack worked anyways and he managed to slam the human villain down and choke him into unconsciousness before the mutated monster took a swipe at him that launched him and sent him to the ground again and resumed its onslaught of merciless pounding.

"Freeze him!" Tsuyu said urgently into Todoroki's ear, but he shook his head, no, he couldn't, he had already used up almost all his power in three big attacks and he could feel the frost creeping up the side of his body.

"Do something!" Tsuyu shouted this time, staring frantically at Todoroki's horrified face as he watched Aizawa get pummeled by the villain again.

Ignoring him, Tsuyu bounded several steps forward, using the momentum to accelerate her tongue shooting towards Aizawa to slip around his body and pull him away from his attacker.

Even when he's been yanked to safety and the last remaining villain is looking left and right, confused that his prey that should have remained motionless had disappeared, Aizawa made no move to stand.

Tsuyu was shaking Aizawa, Todoroki realised a few moments later, and then with a jolt, noticed that rather than doing anything helpful, he was standing, shell-shocked, and only endangering the others. He grit his teeth and dropped to a crouch, muttering, "Aizawa-sensei," only to be met with a continuous, desperate stream of "run," "flee," and "escape."

All of a sudden, there was a smash and then the monster was staring right at him, and before his mind could process anything, he had frozen it again. He could feel the frostbite stretching up his side now, numbing his body. He had to melt himself, attack in a new, different way. He had to. But he couldn't. He wouldn't.

As the hulking avian villain shattered his prison again, there was suddenly a loud crash from somewhere far away, the purple villain appeared again out of nowhere, and Todoroki prepared himself to freeze him again as Tsuyu rose and shifted her stance, but the villain seemed disinterested in them, only calling off the bird with a wave of his hand and creating a warp tunnel beneath the blue-haired villain and sending him away.

He looked at Todoroki and Tsuyu, angry but not threatening, and said, "We've lost. Leave us be," as he created another warp gate and vanished with his mindless beast close behind him.

Dazed, Todoroki turned to Tsuyu, eyes questioning, but the frog-like girl had already returned to Aizawa's side, pushing him gently and mumbling, "Aizawa-sensei, please wake up," over and over again. Todoroki turned and looked up.

All Might.

That was why the villains had given up and fled. The Symbol of Peace himself stood, tall and proud, arms at his sides, at the doorway that had been blown wide open. Seconds later, there were other teachers, heroes, streaming in from behind, to find that the fight was over and the building was near-empty. They all stopped before the stairs of the entry platform, taking in the scene before Present Mic suddenly began sprinting towards them.

When he finally reached them, he bent over Aizawa immediately, ignoring the beginnings of Todoroki's questions and Tsuyu's teary-eyed repetition of Aizawa's name.

"He's alive," Mic said a few moments later, and carefully rolled him over and picked him up with both arms. "You two, go to the other teachers and get someone to escort you back to the school. Leave this for the adults to deal with."

Tsuyu nodded, still shaking, and reached for Todoroki's hand to give them both stability as they wandered, tripping over themselves and lilting seriously to either direction more than once, up the stairs to where All Might took them both into his hands and brought them quickly back to the school using his quirk.


	2. Chapter 2

"...and I will be temporarily taking on the duties of your homeroom teacher."

Staring at Present Mic, the homeroom teacher of a class that was definitely not theirs, none of the students of class 1-A could entirely comprehend what was happening. They still couldn't grasp what had happened the previous day, when their pretend hero training had been interrupted by very real villains.

"B-but, Aizawa-sensei and Todoroki," Tsuyu said, voice quivering, "they're going to okay, right?"

"Like I said," Present Mic said roughly, "Todoroki is recovering from frostbite and will be fine. He should be back in a couple days. We won't know about S-Shouta until he wakes up from his c-coma."

"H-he will wake up, r-right? T-this isn't- isn't just what we hope w-will happen, r-right? A-a-and we can visit A-Aizawa-sensei and s-see that he's going to be all right, r-right?" Though her speech degrading more and more as she spoke, Tsuyu remained the only one capable of asking any questions, all the others looking at her silently hoping that she would ask what they were thinking themselves.

"Yes," Present Mic said shortly. "Both Shou- Aizawa and Todoroki are with Recovery Girl right now and you can visit them after class. No more questions on this topic now. We have to start class."

* * *

Nobody could focus that day, nobody could hear their teachers talking about grammar or theoretical fighting or properly discuss the ethics of killing an enemy. It was decided without the need for any speaking that they were all visiting Aizawa and Todoroki after class, all nineteen of them shuffling, eyes drooped in a zombie-like mass towards Recovery Girl's room.

They found Todoroki awake and well. More than anything, he was bored and worried. He was fine. No permanent damage. Just some bed rest to get him back to a hundred percent before he went back to class.

Aizawa was still out. They visited him, too, but nobody lingered long before drifting back to Todoroki for some half-hearted conversation, a few of them saying a few soft words to their teacher before leaving.

None of them say anything about the condition Aizawa was in, wrapped in bandages that were slowly turning red even now and with his arms in casts and several monitors and IVs attached to him. It was an unspoken rule they all realised together. They all knew they were all thinking the same things, anyways. There was no way they couldn't be.

After a while, a couple of them had left, but most were still sitting around, with no words to say but no desire to leave, either. Recovery Girl didn't shoo them out. Yaoyorozu went to a nearby fast-food restaurant to get them all something to eat. Most of the ones with parents who cared phoned home to tell their family that they would be staying out late.

Slowly, they chewed on their burgers despite not feeling any hunger and left, one by one, by order of curfew, then discomfort, then weariness. Iida stayed, feeling the responsibility as class president. Yaoyorozu stayed. Tsuyu, despite having younger siblings to look after, chose to stay and called a close friend to help her take care of them for the time being. Todoroki, of course, remained. Recovery Girl, seeing them and feeling only sympathy, set up cots for them to sleep in. None of them slept until it was late.

Iida refused to sleep before the others did. Yaoyorozu kept eyeing Todoroki with concern. Todoroki had already slept through most of the day.

Eventually, Iida succumbed to tiredness, and Todoroki attempted to close his eyes and sleep some more. Yaoyorozu followed him, and Tsuyu slunk away to visit Aizawa again, sitting on the chair next to the bed, legs that didn't quite reach the ground swinging as she clenched her hands together on her lap and fixed her face into an odd, neutral smile as she stared at him.

Somewhere along the line, Todoroki slipped out of bed as well and joined her.

"Hey," he said, sullenly rather than with his usual indifference.

"Hello," Tsuyu said back, perfectly stiff eyes wobbling.

Todoroki paused. "Hey," he said again, but couldn't continue."

"D'you think it's our fault?" Tsuyu asked. She rubbed at her eyes, the tears present definitely there from being tired and absolutely not because of any crying. "D'you think that this wouldn't have happened if we helped better?"

Todoroki looked at the floor, shifting his balance back and forth, before following Tsuyu's gaze to his incapacitated teacher. "I don't know."

"No. It wasn't you. It was me. I thought I could be a hero too and Aizawa-sensei got hurt because I wasn't good enough."

"It was me," Todoroki interjected, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You were the one trying to save him. I just froze the villain a few times before freezing up myself and becoming useless. He was the best teacher I'd ever had and I still didn't even try to help him."

"He's still alive," Tsuyu said blandly. "He's still going to be our teacher because he's going to wake up. He's going to be okay. He's going to be okay because you tried and you beat the villain, like nobody else."

Todoroki froze suddenly, thoughts retracing back a mile a minute to when he had thought of all his classmates as cowards for refusing to help and choosing their own safety instead. "Would this have gone differently if we had more people helping?"

Tsuyu's eyes locked onto his for a moment, perfectly fixated and serious. Despite the dim lighting they glittering darkly. "I don't know either."

* * *

The next day, Iida woke up when it was well-past the time school began and shook awake Yaoyorozu and Todoroki in a frantic hurry. "We're late! Where's Tsuyu?"

"I'm going to skip today. I'm still not feeling well," Todoroki answered coldly. "Tsuyu's in Aizawa-sensei's room."

Iida hurried across, found the frog girl in the chair next to Aizawa's bed, and woke her up promptly as well, loudly proclaiming their lateness and explaining the many consequences of such poor behaviour.

Tsuyu only looked at him, oddly dully, and said, "Does that really matter so much?"

Confused, Iida gave up and made his way to class, already thinking over his many profuse apologies with Yaoyorozu tailing him and dragging just barely behind.

Todoroki stared at Iida's back until he turned a corner and was out of view, nodding when Tsuyu scratched the side of her head and said, "That was insensitive of him."

"You're skipping as well?" he asked.

Tsuyu nodded. "I'm not feeling well."

Todoroki nodded again.

* * *

"Considering the recent events, Toshinori, I do believe that we should initiate my plan as quickly as possible," Nedzu said, gazing out the window intently despite his cheerful tone and disposition.

"Mm." Sitting on the couch again in his true form, hands clasped together between his legs and staring at his lap, All Might let out a breath and said, with the barest hint of hesitation, "If I had been there, this wouldn't have happened."

"That's not important right now, Toshinori. What matters is that we don't allow anything like this to happen again. Besides, you've learned a good lesson about placing your priorities correctly, haven't you?"

His explosion was calm and more dejected than angry. Scowling, he said, "Thirteen is dead. Aizawa is in a coma. Do you have no sorrow?"

"Ah, if you insist, I don't suppose I mind talking on this particular topic for a bit. As a principal, of course I feel overwhelming remorse for the loss of two dear colleagues, but it is important now that we look towards the future rather than dwell on the past. We've reached a critical time now, and unless we manage this properly, things could get worse. For now, the most important part of this regrettable incident is that we handle the inevitable confrontation with the media properly. One slip-up could spell the end for U.A. Academy."

"You don't feel anything for them," All Might muttered. "But you do agree that it was my fault and you do agree that Aizawa isn't going to wake up."

"Unfortunately, this does rest on your shoulders for having misused your quirk and being unable to be present during the attack, and I do believe that it is unlikely that Aizawa will wake up considering the extensive damage to his head."

"Is that it, then? No emotions? Just the hard facts?" All Might grunted. "If that's all, then I'm just going to go prepare for my next class rather than waste my time here."

"No, of course not!" Nedzu exclaimed, spinning back around in a pirouette. "I called you here because we have many important matters to discuss. Have you decided on who you want to be part of our special project yet? I'd recommend three to five people, popular groups have a tendency to be within that range. Six at the very most, if you must."

All Might began shaking his head, but froze. "Todoroki Shouto. I already wanted him but his behaviour during the USJ attack confirmed him for me. And Iida Tenya. Maybe Asui Tsuyu, Kirishima Ejirou, or Hagakure Tooru."

"Ah, they all seem like fine choices, but you have to keep in mind what our ultimate goal is here. If we are to form a well-rounded group of heroes that can be popularised through commercial marketing, they cannot all be cheerful, positive heroes. You also need some darker characters to keep the spectrum wider and appealing to a larger audience. Are there any students who come to mind?"

"Todoroki again. And Tokoyami," All Might said gruffly after a moment's worth of thinking.

"All right, then. Just keep thinking about this. We should meet again before soon, how about here again at the same time two days later? Make sure you have your final picks ready by then, and we can get this started then. Remember to choose carefully and keep the commercial aspect in mind."

"Hm." All Might got up to leave, still disgruntled at Nedzu's callous behaviour, but was stopped once again when he was halfway to the door.

"Oh, and if the media asks you anything about what happened yesterday, tell them that they'll have to wait until the official interviewing date. I'll make sure to take care of everything then; a few video clips and lines they want to hear should satisfy them enough to keep them off of our backs."

All Might grunted something unintelligible and left.

* * *

Nobody visited the hospital wing that day. Though Tsuyu and Todoroki had spent the majority of their day there, neither was still hurt or actually sick, so after checking on Aizawa one last time, they thanked Recovery Girl and slipped away with the rest of the leaving students. She invited him to go get some food together, and he agreed, both of them very silent and not really eating their food.

Eventually, Tsuyu said, "I'm going to stay at the school again."

Todoroki noded.

"It feels wrong to be anywhere else."

Todoroki nodded again.

"I have brothers and sisters at home."

Finally, after a long silence, Todoroki said, "Me too," but looked away afterwards and didn't offer any more information.

"Mine are really young and I'm supposed to take care of them, but I'm too afraid to go home."

Todoroki stared at her, surprised. "You don't feel safe in your own house? Do you not get along with your parents?"

"No," Tsuyu replied. "My parents work abroad. It's not really scary… I just feel wrong not staying with Aizawa-sensei."

Looking up, he said, "It's not your fault, you know," quietly.

"No," she agreed, "It's all of our faults. That's why I want to make sure there's someone there when he wakes up."

Todoroki averted his gaze again. "Tsuyu," he said, "don't you remember what Present Mic was saying?"

"I think he's wrong," Tsuyu chirped, but not cheerfully. "Recovery Girl says that she's already fixed up all his injuries, so he'll definitely be okay again soon."

"Hm. Were you planning on staying at the school again tonight?"

Tsuyu nodded. "My friend is taking care of my siblings again."

Todoroki nodded, and they finished as much of their food as they could stomach before throwing the rest of it out and allowing themselves to mindlessly wander back to the school.

When they arrived again, Recovery Girl looked at the two of them, full of somber understanding, and again set up the cots that she had just taken down. They thanked her and put their things down, eyes meeting for a split second before they simultaneously decided that neither of them could take seeing Aizawa again.

Tsuyu sat down on her makeshift bed and brought out her homework. She froze at the first question, without the heart to work through the equation and threw her pen aside. "Todoroki, I'm confused," she mumbled quietly.

He walked over to her, and knowing full well that she wasn't talking about schoolwork, asked, "I'm good at chemistry, maybe I can help."

"Not about that. About Aizawa-sensei."

He withdrew a bit, not stepping backwards or visibly shrinking away, but the air he held himself with was noticeably different.

"It's not fair." She rubbed at her eyes, only encouraging the flow of tears.

"He was a hero. Heroes fight villains. It's supposed to be dangerous and heroes are supposed to die."

Tsuyu looked up at him indignantly. "Heroes don't fight villains. Heroes protect people."

"Heroes do fight," Todoroki interjected harshly. "Real heroes have to face what we saw just once every day. The others couldn't. They all assumed that they were just kids and had the right to be protected without ever having to protect. It's their fault this happened. Everyone talking about how they met with danger too early is lying to themselves. This is reality."

Aghast, Tsuyu looked up, trapped between the truth she saw in Todoroki's words and her own unwillingness to speak so poorly of her friends. In her life of always speaking her mind and being honest, she had never considered saying something so brutal. "B-but, they're not-"

"It's true."

* * *

"So, All Might, they're all coming now? You're sure about your final decisions?"

"Yes. They'll be here soon."

"Who did you choose, I wonder?"

All Might shrugged.


	3. Chapter 3

Todoroki, Tsuyu, and Kirishima. Those were the people All Might had instructed Iida to collect and bring with him to the principal's office.

He was nervous as he did so, perfectly aware that the wording had been to bring them _with_ him rather than to send them there _alone_. So, if something had happened, it was likely that he was in trouble as well. Of course, there was the off chance that it had just been misphrased or maybe he was also wanted there because he was class president, but the low chances of both didn't shake his uneasiness.

Mentally, he prepared to say his teacher's name as sharply as he could, envisioned himself rapping solidly on the door and being answered to by the hero.

Instead, he was greeted to by a short, thin man with baggy clothes, a grumpy expression, and somewhat similarly coloured hair.

"Who are y-"

"Come in," the man said, and Iida stepped aside to let the others in first.

"Uh, hello, sir, we were looking for Principal Nedzu and All Might…?"

"'M right here," the man grunted, and the students stared for several moments before Iida exclaimed, astonished, "You mean you're All Might?!"

"Yep. Follow me."

The four of them followed the man down through the passageway inside the office until they reached Nedzu's room and All Might let them all in without knocking. Nedzu himself had been waiting for them, apparently, already perched on his desk and gesturing at them to sit down in the chairs he had prepared for them.

He began to speak himself before any of the students could begin to ask any questions, talking quickly and not reacting to any motions or sounds from his audience or leaving enough space for anyone to cut into his monologue. He explained the basis of the project, and invited any of them who didn't want to put themselves into the danger and hard work to leave (an offer which was, obviously, accepted by none of them), and after giving them a few minutes to think everything over, he continued, finally explaining everything in depth about All Might's injury, the necessity in their society for mighty figures to look up to, and their future involvement in everything.

They were all quiet afterwards, all their questions already thoroughly answered and too stunned to make any relevant comments.

"If you all still decide to agree with this," Nedzu concluded, "you will have to spend several hours after school training with All Might. You'll be sacrificing much of your personal time."

Todoroki nodded, face dead-set and said, "I accept," in a flat tone. Iida and Tsuyu followed his lead, and Kirishima eventually said, uncomfortably, "Sure, I guess."

It was after Nedzu told them all that they would be starting tomorrow and that they should all meet in his office again at the same time that Tsuyu raised her hand, and asked, "Is that all? Are we only doing this so that we can take All Might's place as number one someday?"

"Of course not!" Nedzu replied, smiling widely. "The point of this is to keep our society balanced and functioning. The Symbol of Peace is a necessity for the people. We must ensure that we have a new one before the old can fade away."

"It all seems a bit too simple…" Kirishima said, scratching the back of his head.

"People are simple," Nedzu answered easily. "Now remember, don't speak of this to any of your friends and family. Try to be inconspicuous when you come from now on. I'm working on setting up an area just for you to train, and I'll see about bringing in a few more teachers to help us with this."

* * *

When he got home, Iida went to his room, opened up his bag, and began doing his homework, with none of the focus or efficiency of his norm. He was looking at the clock on his desk more than the essay he was working on, counting down the hours, then minutes, then seconds until his brother came home.

Then he heard the door opening and someone stepping in, and he had dropped his pen and was halfway down the stairs before Tensei had managed to take his shoes off. "Hey," he said, smiling warmly at his younger brother.

"Tensei," Iida said, "I have something important to ask you."

"Sure. Actually, I have something to talk to you about as well, just let me put my stuff away first, okay?"

Iida nodded, following his brother up the stairs and barely noticing how exhausted he seemed from the day's worth of hero work. When they got to Tensei's room and he had put his bag down, Iida found himself unsure of how to ask his question.

"Well? What is it that's so important, Tenya? Girl troubles?"

Iida shook his head frantically. "No, no, not at all. ...I was wondering about heroes, actually."

"Go on," Tensei encouraged.

"What's it like?"

"What's brought that on again?" Tensei asked, laughing lightly. "You haven't asked questions like that since you were just a kid."

"I was just… curious, is all, I suppose," Iida replied, flustered.

"Well, I think it's great. You get to help and protect people, and even though it can be hard work, there's nothing quite like that feeling when you know that you've just helped to save someone's life."

Iida nodded dumbly. That certainly hadn't been the answer he was looking for, and it certainly wasn't an answer that helped him understand anything any better, but at the same time, he realised that he didn't really know what he wanted advice on, nor did he know what he was so puzzled about. He sighed and shook his head. "Thank you, Tensei."

Tensei looked worried for a moment. "My little hero in training isn't having second thoughts, is he? You can't quit now that you've gotten into U.A. Academy, people would kill for that chance."

"No, not at all. Sorry. Was there something you wanted to ask me as well?"

"Yeah," Tensei said, more darkly. "And please don't tell me anything you're not allowed to or anything, or tell anyone that I asked you, but did something big happen at U.A. a couple days ago? There are a few small news reports about some villains attacking, but it all seems really restrained and I can't find much information, but a few of my colleagues have been whispering about a vicious attack."

"Right. I've told Mom and Dad already, but you weren't home last night and all so I couldn't tell you yet. Our class was at the USJ building, and villains appeared from a warp gate. Aizawa-sensei, Thirteen, and a couple other students went and fought while the rest of us ran to get help. No students were seriously injured."

"You were there? And Aizawa, too? As in the guy with the quirk that can erase quirks?" Tensei asked, surprised. "Well, I suppose it's good to know that everyone's safe and that the low-key media coverage wasn't meant to suppress news of the incident."

"Yes. Aizawa-sensei is my teacher."

"Oh, he was a classmate of mine back when I was still studying at U.A. a few years ago. That's pretty nifty. We weren't particularly close, but we got along okay until he dropped off the radar after we graduated. How's he doing?"

"Er," Iida began, looking away guiltily, "he got hurt during the fight. He's- he's in Recovery Girl's care right now, I think."

"Wait, what happened, Tenya?" Tensei asked, immediately concerned. "He's okay now, right? I thought you said everyone got out safely."

"All the students did," Iida corrected. "Thirteen got- Thirteen has passed away and Aizawa-sensei is- is in a coma."

"I see," Tensei said, quietly thunderstruck. "So I was right. Don't worry," he continued reassuringly, "I won't tell anyone what you told me. It must be difficult for you right now. If you ever need any support, don't be afraid to ask me, okay?"

Iida shrugged nonchalantly.

* * *

Tsuyu went home that day.

She visited Aizawa again, sitting and keeping watch over his motionless body for an hour, and then she sucked in all her courage and went home.

"Hello!" she said as brightly as she could after she opened the door, and all her little siblings came running to hug her.

She smiled for real then, feeling horrible for having deemed it okay to leave them alone for so long, patting them on the heads alternatively as they squeezed her around the legs. Habuko came walking out a few moments later. "Thank you," Tsuyu said, and Habuko laughed. "Don't worry, they're lots of fun. I've already started making dinner, you're okay with stew, right?"

"Yep. Thank you." Walking in minuscule movements so that she wouldn't trample any of her siblings who were still wrapped tightly around her, Tsuyu went to the kitchen as Habuko closed and locked the door.

"How have you been doing, Tsuyu?"

"Just a second." Tsuyu pried off the oldest of her siblings and brought him up for a real hug before putting him back down gently and telling him to go play with his younger sisters. He obeyed joyfully, and Tsuyu sat down at the dinner table with Habuko.

"How have you been doing, Tsuyu?" Habuko asked again, resting her cheek on a hand.

"Good. How about you?"

"Oh, I've been fine. The people at my new school are all pretty good, although none of them really match up to you, of course. There's this one really annoying chick, though, and I don't think I'd be upset at all if she went and got herself killed!"

Tsuyu winced and her face drooped into a frown.

"But I don't think you're doing as well as you say you've been, or there's no way you would have ditched your siblings for two days. What happened? Too much stress?"

"No. Yes. I don't know. Something came up and I had to stay at the school for a few days. To work. Nothing much. Sorry for the trouble."

"If you say so! Say, have you tried that new restaurant across from our old elementary school? I went there with a few friends, and they had some very good noodles. We should go sometime. Just text me whenever you have the time! I'm usually free anyways, there isn't a lot of work in normal high school."

"Okay."

Pause.

"Thank you."

* * *

Fuyumi," Todoroki called, "is Endeavor going to come home today?"

"Huh?" His sister looked up. "I think so, why?"

"It's nothing," Todoroki muttered. And it really was. It wasn't like he was going to talk to him or anything, not a chance in the world.

Endeavor did return to his home that night, powerful and menacing even in front of his own family. Todoroki skirted around the corners of doors and the sides of hallways, wondering, just briefly, if he should approach Endeavor just once to ask for a small piece of advice.

Or nor. The thought was laughable, really. Yet, he remained, pressed against a wall and eyeing his father with hate.

"Shouto, come here."

Shit.

"You've been watching me for minutes now. Explain yourself."

"I wasn't."

"You were. And you've been missing for the last two days."

"I was in the hospital."

"You allowed yourself to be hurt. You allowed yourself to be hurt badly enough to have to remain under someone else's care for two days and two nights. Where's the scar? Where's the missing limb?"

Todoroki scowled. "That's none of your business."

"I wonder if you begged Recovery Girl to let you stay another night just so you wouldn't have to come home? Such a cunning little worm, robbing someone for time and effort from only selfishness."

Todoroki gritted his teeth because Endeavor was right, he had intentionally stayed another night to avoid returning home. But Recovery Girl had offered.

"Don't let it happen again," Endeavor said coldly, and gestured aggressively for Todoroki to leave his sight.

* * *

When Kirishima was eating dinner with his family that night, he yittered on and on about being a hero and going to school at U.A. Academy. His parents smiled at him and went along with it all.

He grinned widely the entire time, excited and barely able to stop himself from telling his parents everything. He couldn't wait to get started, even if it really was going to be hard.

* * *

"All Might," Nedzu greeted, "you can handle the extra classes and training sessions, correct? If you can't, we can always find others to take control of this for you. One-on-one mentorship would likely be more effective, also."

All Might grunted. "I'll be fine."

"Don't push yourself. If you're too tired, it's always a good idea to sit back and take a break for a while, with a good pot of tea. Actually, I have a pleasant brew right now, I'll go get you-"

"No, don't!" All Might cut in quickly, alarmed at the long lecture that was sure to come if the principal did manage to settle them both down with cups of his favourite beverage. "I'm not very thirsty right now. If you want to hire more help, though, maybe you should."

"We should both consider this," Nedzu replied calmly. "It isn't important to give them intensive combat training yet, the first few weeks should be dedicated to having them get to know each other a bit and to familiarise them with their new personas. When the time comes, though, giving each one of them their own tutor could be critical in helping them develop their skills quickly, however. Do you have any suggestions? It would have to be heroes who know about your injury, of course."

"That's just the other teachers here," All Might said. "And a teacher of mine from when I was in school. Gran Torino."

Nedzu nodded. "I'll look into him, and see if any of the other teachers have any interest in this."


	4. Chapter 4

When they met in Principal Nedzu's office again the next day, after another uncomfortable day of school with the wrong homeroom teacher, they found that the desk had been pushed off to the side and that there were six chairs arranged in a circle inside.

"Don't worry, I talked him out of icebreakers," All Might muttered as they entered.

"That's right!" Nedzu exclaimed. "A much better description of today's activities would be role-casting!"

"I don't think I understand," Tsuyu said.

"You're going to start becoming your characters," Nedzu explained enthusiastically. "Since you're going to be commercialised and put everywhere, you all need to have simple and easy to understand personas that everyone can latch on to easily. Of course, we had it planned so that they correlated with your pre-existing personalities, as well as your role in the group." Pausing briefly to allow for questions, but being asked none, Nedzu gestured to All Might.

The hero began reading off of a notebook he had been holding. "Iida Tenya, you will be the leader. You should always be composed, have a plan, and follow the rules strictly. You will also be the one commanding everyone and giving orders, but you must remember that you aren't the main character and that everyone is of equal importance. Todoroki Shouto, you're going to be the stoic but powerful fighter. You shouldn't talk much and you should be quick and curt when you do, and you should always present yourself as cold and aloof, but with a strong code of honour. You're responsible for being the darker character, so you should be prepared to become popular. Otherwise, make sure you keep strengthening your quirk, you're going to be the main fighter. Asui Tsuyu, you will be the supporter, both in character and in combat. Your ability to traverse difficult terrain and large distances quickly while bringing along everyone else is your main job. You will have to strengthen yourself physically to ensure that you can do so. While presenting yourself to the public, you should seem kind and caring, and act like you're the pillar that everyone leans on when they need help. However, your archetype isn't the most favoured so you shouldn't expect too much fame. Kirishima Ejirou, you are the fun-loving, energetic close-combat brawler. You must always maintain a spirited and dynamic demeanour. It's okay to be slightly crass and it is encouraged that you constantly tell jokes and always act like you're ready for a fight. Personality-wise, you're there to keep things upbeat in a more vigorous manner than Tsuyu. You're likely to be the favourite of younger boys and those who were obsessive fans of All Might. You should hone your speed and reaction time to be more effective in a fistfight."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Is that it?" Kirishima asked.

All Might scratched the back of his head as Nedzu stared at him wryly. "I suppose it is. I'll have more planned for tomorrow."

"Hold on!" Nedzu called out. "I have some homework for you all! By tomorrow, I want you to have several hero names ready, and to be able to talk and act in your characters accurately, and we'll be doing some activities where you have to play as them. For the next week, we'll be familiarising you with your new identities, then we can begin physical and teamwork training."

As the four students left, Nedzu said slightly more quietly, "And All Might, I'd like to have a word with you. We have to take this more seriously, you know."

* * *

Hey, you guys wanna go for a run?" Kirishima called. "It'd be good for us to get started training ahead of time!"

He was rejected thrice, on the grounds of having siblings to take care of, not wanting to neglect studies even during times of great excitement, and a simple "no".

"Aw, c'mon," he whined, "can't you study later, or at least tell me what you have to do? I mean, I get the little kids to take care of thing and all, but you two seriously have no excuse."

Deeply flustered already, but still with a light, humorous tone, Iida cried, "Of course I can't! Yaoyorozu is three percent higher than me in all subjects on average, and my mark won't rise if I neglect my homework!"

"I'm busy." Oddly enough, Todoroki was staring at Iida, not Kirishima, when he answered.

"Well, don't blame me when you're a mile behind!" Looking back and waving, Kirishima set off at a jog almost too fast to be called a jog, bright, energetic, and still grinning widely.

The other three began walking home, coincidentally in the same direction. Iida made several attempts at conversation with Tsuyu, all his promptings shut off by obliviously brief and unanswerable replies, until Tsuyu said something voluntarily, but not directed to him.

"You're not busy."

Behind them, Todoroki shrugged and looked away, although his companions couldn't see.

After pausing for a moment, she continued with, "I heard that exercising is good for taking your mind off of things."

Hearing that there was still no reply from Todoroki, Iida added, "That's right. Exercise refreshes the mind and the body, and it's important to take breaks in between bouts of work. Additionally, if you feel stressed out by your new commitment, the time you spend mindlessly running can be used to think through everything and to understand how important it is to fulfil your duties, even if it requires personal sacrifices.

There was a quiet snort, and Tsuyu could see Todoroki's glaring scowl even though she was looking in the opposite direction.

* * *

"Hello, this is Mimori Nagato of the JG News, and I'm here today, interviewing Principal Nedzu of U.A. Academy, and pro-heroes and teachers, All Might, Present Mic, and Midnight about some recent villain attacks on their school. Several days ago, the school faced an intrusion by several villains during a class trip to one of their nearby facilities designed for rescue-training. One student received minor injuries but has now recovered. Additionally, one staff member was killed and another staff member was injured and is currently in a coma. Principal Nedzu, do you have any words on this matter?"

"Ah, yes, of course." From his seat in the row of podiums, Nedzu took his microphone from his stand and stood on his chair to raise his small stature. "As you can see, U.A. Academy has faced a terrible tragedy that will be remembered as an event to grieve for and an example of mistakes we must avoid in the future. However, we would like to assure you that additional securities measures have already been placed to prevent this from happening again, and we have coordinated with the police to track down and arrest the perpetrators." He looked to the reporter, nodding.

"Thank you, Nedzu." The reporter scanned down the notes she had placed on her own podium. "Now, do you have any information on how the villains managed to infiltrate your school?"

"Unfortunately, they found information about our plans by sneaking in two weeks ago, using the cover of the media hounding us as cover. Through that information, they were able to strike using a combination of a warping quirk and a signal-jamming quirk."

"Of course. Obviously, it would take the most advanced of methods to break through U.A. Academy's top-tier security, wouldn't it?" The reporter was suddenly glaring, tone sharp and ridiculing rather that upbeat. "Now, how do you think this reflects on you?"

"Ah, I do believe that this was only the most exceptional of occasions," Nedzu said after a brief pause. "We had not foreseen an event where such a large and diverse grouping of villains would cooperate against us. We have installed additional security to prevent a repeat of this incident."

"Right. Now then, they say you were the first on the scene, All Might," the reporter said, glowering through the corners of her eyes. "Can you describe the scene you arrived to?"

He was caught off-guard by the sudden question, as the reporter had intended him to be. "Er- it was nothing much actually. My colleague, the pro hero Eraserhead, had already taken out most of the villains, and there were only a couple left. They all fled when I arrived, and the rest were taken into custody," he said stiffly, clearly struggling to follow the instructions of speech patterns and things to say that he had been given earlier by Nedzu.

"And you have no other information about what happened?"

"I don't think that-"

"-Actually, we do," Nedzu interrupted. "While signals were jammed during the invasion, our security cameras remained live and we were recently able to access the recordings. We would like to show a few clips from it, as the events were chaotic and explaining them verbally would be confusing and time-consuming, but in essence, the villains arrived, our teachers went to fight them, the children escaped, and the rest of U.A.'s staff went to defeat the villains. Please note that the video feed has been cut and censored, as there are multiple sections of it which were deemed inappropriate for the viewing of the masses."

After tinkering for a moment under his podium, a large screen above them all came to life, showing several minutes worth of the key points of the attack.

When the video finished, Nedzu shut it off, ignoring the agape expressions of most of the audience, and said politely to the reporter, "Are there any more questions?"

"Of course," she said quickly, looking back to her notes and asking sternly this time, "The two teachers in the beginning of the video were Thirteen and Eraserhead, correct? We were unable to contact them for this interview, are you able to disclose any information about the two of them?" Hastily and in afterthought, she added, "Present Mic?"

"Uh- yes- That is, the two of them were teachers at U.A. Academy, and-" For once in his life, Present Mic was stumbling and at a loss for words, only barely able to bluff and buy time to think.

"I'll take this one, actually," Midnight interrupted. "I've been handling most of the teacher replacements, so I think I've got the most information with this anyways. So, you said it yourself earlier, before you started having to think of questions to ask," she began pointedly, "Thirteen was killed, unfortunately, and Eraserhead is currently in a coma and under the care of Recovery Girl."

"I fail to see the relation between you filling in for their classes and you having more information about their situations," the reporter said, disdainfully.

"It's not like Present Mic knew anything about this at all," Midnight retorted. "I'm rescheduling their classes so I know what's been going on with them behind the scenes. There isn't anything to talk about. One was killed and one is injured. That's it."

"Fine, then. Now, how do you think parents will feel, sending their children to a school where their children could be the victims of a terrorist attack?"

Perfectly and calmly, and even still smiling, Nedzu began to explain his thoughts in response to each question thoroughly and slowly, not allowing any members of his faculty to answer, taking up as much time with each monologue as he could in order to close out the interview with fewer things said.

* * *

"Sorry guys, I lost my temper," Midnight said as she threw on a coat over her thin hero outfit. "The reporter was getting on my nerves."

"That's alright, but watch yourself next time. I was the one who doomed the interview by a slip of the tongue, and you didn't say anything important," Nedzu reassured.

"Man, this is going to be all over the news," Midnight complained. "I mean, U.A.'s still the best and all, but it's pretty bad publicity."

"That's true, but I've set it up to turn things around. The video was edited to show off Aizawa and Thirteen's heroism. Even if we take a fall from this, it should be counterbalanced by the populace seeing the selflessness of our teachers."

"D'you think so? Midnight asked, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "I know you're the smartest being in existence and all, but I kinda doubt it. Anyways, are you sure Aizawa's going to be okay with being all over the news when he recovers? He's always been pretty anti-media."

"Not to worry. I doubt he'll ever find out."

Midnight jerked forwards from leaning on the wall suddenly. "Are you implying that you don't think he's going to wake up? He's with Recovery Girl and she's giving him her best treatment, there's no way he won't!"

"Ah, you see," Nedzu said, shaking his head, "he's with Recovery Girl to keep up the good image that he'll be okay. It's easier for me to keep track this way, and I can keep the matters covered. I haven't told her, of course, and his body has healed already, but the damage he took was quite significant, a bit too much, I'm afraid."

"You're a heartless little rat sometimes, you know that?" Midnight sneered.

"Of course not. This is only logic. Heartless is when you shut a poor, sentient creature in a cage to be experimented on without any heed for their well-being."

"Yeah, whatever," Midnight said, waving him off as she turned and began walking away. "What happened to you doesn't make what you're doing okay. I'm checking up on Mic."

* * *

"Hey," Midnight said as she entered the infirmary, "You all right, Mic? And who's that?"

"I'm good," Mic replied without looking at her. "This is Iida Tensei. Ingenium. We were friends when we were at school. He was watching the interview and all. He's visiting Shouta right now, too."

"Gotcha. Sorry about what happened at the interview, Mic, I didn't think you could take it." She sauntered up behind them, looking at her colleague for only a split second before looking away, upset.

"I was fine," Present Mic snapped, "but thanks, anyways."

"I think the reporter was being a bit aggressive," Tensei agreed quietly.

"Yeah. Did Recovery Girl say anything?" she asked distractedly, eyes wandering even further away to look at the door that the nurse's office was behind.

"Yeah," Present Mic answered despondently. "She said she's already done everything she could physically. We're just waiting, now."

"Yeah, well…" Midnight was still staring fixedly at everything else. "To be honest, there's something I think I should tell you, er-"

Present Mic and Tensei both turned to her slowly, Mic's eyes drooping and half-lidded. "Yeah?"

"N-nevermind, actually. It's nothing. Nothing important. Pretend I didn't say anything."

"Hey," she continued after silence fell again, all three of them contributing to the low atmosphere, "I don't think feeling sorry any more will do anyone any good. You two want to go for a drink, to cloud your minds for a bit?" She smiled bitterly. "I'll treat."

* * *

"Shouto!"

The livid roar snapped a resentful expression onto Todoroki's face, intermingled with fear and anger. Brimming with ire, he continued to work on his homework.

" _Shouto!"_

He scratched out an obsolete coefficient and replaced it.

Footsteps.

He underlined his answer and moved on to the next.

His father stood at his doorway, lit with flame. "Shouto. You did not tell me about the attack on the USJ."

Todoroki set down his pen and turned slowly. Cooly, he said, "I thought a hero as famous as you would be in the know."

"You dare to taunt me?" Endeavor strode up to his son and pressed his hand onto Todoroki's right shoulder, searing it with only a fraction of his power.

Immediately, the singed area was crusted over with ice, and Endeavor sneered. "The future number one hero can't take the pain of an attack not even meant to hurt?"

Todoroki scowled, staring back up but not melting the ice.

"I saw the news. I know that you couldn't beat a villain outnumbered three-to-one."

"There were two of them, and Aizawa-sensei could barely move."

"You're claiming that it was an equal fight then, with a pair of lowlife scums against a hero made and raised to have the most powerful quirk. Funny that the one who should have been incapacitated was the one doing the fighting." Endeavor snorted. "Not that your teacher was any use, of course. A professional who can't protect his students or himself is only laughable."

Todoroki could barely stop himself from shouting at Endeavor, whether it be to attack him or defend his teacher or just to make him go away. Instead, he gritted his teeth and glared, struggling to think of something he could say calmly enough to not wind up screaming. "There were too many," he hissed after a pause, "and he was was too busy protecting us."

"There are always too many enemies. You will always be protecting someone. That fool has no excuse. He deserves to be where he is now." He stared at his son with disdain and disinterest. "The weak heroes die. They do every day. You cannot cry about it."

"What do you _want?_ "

"I saw the video of you fighting. You were not injured enough to justify two days in a hospital bed. Where were you."

"I was with friends."

"Friends." Endeavor laughed mockingly. "When your body couldn't take using your quirk four times."

"I've already asked my teachers for extra help!" Todoroki shouted, face flushed as he jerked upright erratically enough to topple his weak-based chair.

"I see. I will be tracking this."


	5. Chapter 5

Todoroki walked into the classroom, and before reaching his desk, he spared a cursory glance at the teacher writing on the board.

Still Present Mic. No Aizawa-sensei.

Face impassive, he sat down at his desk and began to unpack his things, eyeing the door every now and then in case Tsuyu came in. When she did, he called out softly, but just loud enough for her to hear, "Tsuyu, could I ask you something?"

"Sure. I'd prefer if you'd just call be Tsu, though. It's faster."

Todoroki nodded, and when she made it to his desk, he began talking in a hushed tone, gaze downcast. "Hey, Tsuyu. I was wondering if I could stay at your home for a while. There's some stuff going on with my family right now, and it's really hard to stay with them. My… dad isn't the greatest."

Tsuyu was listening attentively, head tilted slightly sideways and her finger on her lip. "I don't have a lot of extra space at my house. And shouldn't you ask a friend who knows you a bit better? I don't think this is a good idea."

"Hey!" Kirishima called from a couple desks away. "If you need a place to crash, I'm sure my parents won't mind. We have a spare guest room and all, too, it's already all set up."

Todoroki glowered subtly at Kirishima, not just upset because his private dealings had been broadcast through the room. "No thanks. On second thought, I should be fine."

"Okay then, dude! Just tell me if you change your mind!" He returned to his conversation with Kaminari.

"Why did it have to be me?" Tsuyu asked. "If you want to talk privately, we can go to a cafe after school."

Todoroki gritted his teeth, and snarled at Tsuyu, albeit in a whisper, "How can you trust them, and still think of them as your friends? They were the ones who allowed Aizawa-sensei to- to-"

"It's also my fault and your fault."

"At least we tried!" Todoroki spat.

"Later. Class is starting.

"Don't you care at all?" Todoroki asked, icily, and left to spend the rest of his day staring straight down and paying attention to nothing.

After several hours' worth of lessons, the lunch bell rang and Tsuyu wandered hesitantly towards Todoroki. "I think we should talk again," she said, smiling uneasily and with her hands held behind her back.

"Somewhere with fewer people," Todoroki muttered. He seized Tsuyu by the hand and hauled her into the tip of a dead-end hallway, and stared at her expectantly.

"You should stop hating everybody else."

"They were the ones who let Aizawa-sensei die."

"He's not dead."

"As good as."

"He's not!"

"Fine. He's not. But it's still their fault."

"But-"

"We already went over this," he growled. "And we couldn't do anything else. If just one of them hadn't decided to protect themselves only, then we would all be in class with the right teacher."

"It's everybody's fault," Tsuyu repeated. "We could have done things differently, and they could have come with us, or the villains could have left us alone, or maybe a hero somewhere from the west could have been here for some reason and saved us. Everybody could have done something even if they didn't know. It was just an accident. Don't blame them."

"This wasn't just some random turn of events! They made their own decisions and now this happened!" He hissed a curse and looked away, teeth gritted. "You're not yourself, Tsuyu. Even if I had never talked to you before, I know that you were supposed to be honest to others above all, even if it meant being rude or blunt."

"But you're different, too," Tsuyu countered softly. "You're supposed to be silent. I always thought that you were the only one really ready to be a hero."

"I am!" Todoroki shouted, loudly enough for people still in classrooms to hear. "You and I were the only ones who could!"

"I don't think so. I wasn't ready and I don't think you were either."

"I've always been ready." Todoroki was shaking, face white and hands clenched.

"Todoroki, are you… Are you scared?"

* * *

"I'm gonna be Red Riot!"

"No," Nedzu said, shaking his head. He was sitting at his desk this time, and the four students were in a U-shape rather than in a circle. Mysteriously, All Might was unavailable and apparently would be for the next couple of weeks, and the training sessions were to be lead by him alone instead. "That won't do, Kirishima. We can't have any homages to other heroes; I want you all to have distinct, unique names. We can work on another one for you later. You next, Iida."

"Er-" Iida's face was flustered. "I did have one in mind, but since you didn't want any allusions to other famous names, I don't think it will- that is, I'll come up with a new one as quickly as I can. Profound apologies for misunderstanding your purpose."

"That's all right, you can share it with us anyways," Nedzu replied good-naturedly.

"I was thinking of 'Engenious', but that may be a bit too similar to 'Ingenium', my brother's hero name…"

"A tweak is all it needs," Nedzu reassured, but without any happy cheer. "Make sure you never associate yourself with Ingenium, though. You must only be part of this team, and not also part of a duo even if he is your family. Todoroki, what do you have for us?"

"Ah, yes, I see!" Iida said before Todoroki could share. "Thank you very much, sir."

"Todoroki Shouto."

"Did you not come up with a name, Todoroki?"

"I did. Todoroki Shouto."

"Ah, you were wanting to keep your regular name as your hero name, I see. Unfortunately, that just won't do." Nedzu sipped from a small cup, the liquid looking a bit too dark to be tea. Coffee, perhaps, although the different choice in drinks was unusual for the principal. Nobody considered it for long enough to try and guess why. "While it fits your persona more than it fits any other, part of the cohesion of the team requires that you have distinguishing handle names."

"Shouto Todoroki, then," he deadpanned.

"We'll talk about this later," Nedzu said, paying him no mind. "Asui?"

"Froppy." Tsuyu beamed sweetly. "The rainy season hero."

"Ah, quite a fine choice. Of all of you, I'd consider that the only usable name. It gives off a caring, happy tone, quite befitting of your character. Now, for the rest of you, I have already come up with names should you have failed to do so yourself, but now that I've heard your own suggestions, I've tweaked them to suit your tastes more. Iida, you can be Engineous rather than Engenious, to pull away from Ingenium and to capitalise on your quirk. Kirishima, you can keep 'red', but associations with Crimson Riot will have to be removed; as such, I've decided on Redrock, as a play-on-words with bedrock and your quirk allowing you to harden. Todoroki, I'd like you to know that I am very disappointed in you, and would like if you were to come up with a name by tomorrow. You will not receive an easy pass for laziness." He paused, but nobody had anything to say. Iida was sitting attentively, Kirishima was trying to act focussed while completely distracted and staring out the window, Tsuyu was staring at him blankly, and Todoroki was scowling at everybody. "Alright then, shall we proceed to some in-character conversation practice? The situation is that you have all just fought off a dangerous enemy. Anybody can start."

Simultaneously, Iida and Kirishima began to speak, but Iida stopped to be polite while Kirishima ploughed on. "HEY, GREAT FIGHT, EVERYONE!" he shouted, far too loudly to be realistic but with convincing enthusiasm. "WE BEAT THE VILLAINS, HIP HIP, HOORAY!"

Iida frowned at Kirishima, looking deeply concerned, but added, "Uh, yes. It was a job very well done."

"Ribbit. Everybody's safe now." Tsuyu, while having somewhat believable word choice, delivered her line completely flatly.

And, Todoroki refused to say anything at all.

Their tentative rhythm broken, all four of them stared at each other silently for a few seconds before Iida coughed and repeated, "Ah yes. Again, a job well done. Very well done."

More silence.

"Uh, yeah, then, that was great, guys! You wanna go for some food? There's this pretty nice noodle place and I haven't had any udon in a while, so…"

"Froppy likes udon as well!"

"Of course! But first, we must report our fight to the officials and explain the events to the press, and-"

"Dude, I meant it literally."

"What."

"Kirishima, I don't think that we're supposed to break character like that," Tsuyu said.

"Oh, whoops. Sorry. I thought we were all just giving one line. Keep going."

"Ah, hold on a moment," Nedzu said, waving his arms. "Since you've come to a resting point on your own, albeit a bit too soon, I'd like to give you all some feedback. Tsuyu, you were good, but if you choose to be blunt and deadpan, you must always remain so. Iida, you should remain stuffy, but don't be so stiff. Kirishima, I'd rather you-" He was interrupted by a knock on his door, and hurried to answer it.

A girl with long vines for hair hopped back, surprised, and said, "Um, Recovery Girl said she wanted you. She said that it's Aizawa-sensei, he's-"

"I know, I know. Of course. Thank you, you may go now." He ushered the girl away and stepping outside, said to the students, "I have to go now, I'd like you to continue what you've been doing. If I'm not back by four, you can leave."

"Can we go too, Principal Nedzu? I need to apologise to Aizawa-sensei," Tsuyu said, strong in tone and not the least bit unsure. "Todoroki, too."

Nedzu sighed. "Well, there's nothing preventing you from coming, and professional business will have to wait anyways. You can come, but be quiet."

"Principal Nedzu!" Iida announced, standing up. "Allow me to go as well."

"...Guess I'll go too, then," Kirishima said uncertainly. "Man, I've missed Aizawa, he was a pretty great teacher."

Todoroki scowled again and got up, walking ahead and ignoring the others.

The five of them went to U.A.'s large infirmary together, and though Tsuyu and Todoroki drifted ahead of the others, they all arrived at the door within a few seconds of each other and froze there.

Nedzu, approaching more calmly from behind, knocked on the door, confident unlike the students and stepped back to avoid being hit by it when it was opened.

It took a few minutes before Recovery Girl greeted them, smiling widely but also somewhat sadly, and exited the room and closed the door behind her rather than allowing them inside.

"Now, I want you all to remember not to be too loud," she instructed sternly. "I know you must be very excited to have your teacher back with you, but I have other patients and the rooms aren't soundproof. Also…" She paused, looking each one of them in the eye. "I've managed to fix most of his injuries, but I couldn't heal his eyes. He's blind now. He says he's okay, but I don't want you to aggravate him too much. Be careful and act natural."

"Wait," Tsuyu said, eyes wide, "you mean you can't do anything?"

"That's what she just said," Todoroki said, answering before Recovery Girl could. "Just go in." Roughly, he pushed Tsuyu aside and barged past Recovery Girl. Opening the door, he walked in with a perfectly measured pace until he saw the room with the half-open door and suddenly wavered in the middle of his step, peering in with morbid curiosity.

Kirishima followed him, and after listening to Nedzu and Recovery Girl briefly discuss how Present Mic wasn't there and that Aizawa didn't want to tell him yet, for some reason that Tusyu didn't know because she had already followed Todoroki in as well, allowing herself to give in to comforting instinct and hop rather than walk to the room. Todoroki nodded to her when she reached them, mouth slightly open and expression hollow.

A short while later, they were joined by the two teachers as well as Iida, and Recovery Girl motioned at them to go in.

Tsuyu was the first to do so, treading extremely softly. She turned back to Recovery Girl, who nodded at her. She looked at Aizawa for a moment, noticing that he was in a plain gray shirt rather than his usual black shirt and track pants, and his scarf, still torn and bloody, was beside him on the bedside table. His eyes were closed, and though he was sitting against the backboard of the bed, he looked like he was either sleeping or about to fall asleep. "Aizawa-sensei?" she said, experimentally.

"'M awake," he mumbled back, voice hoarse. "Just tired." Very briefly, he paused. "Asui, right?"

"Yes. I'm glad you're back, Sensei," Tsuyu said awkwardly. "Todoroki and Kirishima and Iida are also here. They're coming right now."

Aizawa nodded, opening and closing his eyes again briefly. "Is everyone safe?" he asked breathlessly.

"Yeah," Kirishima said, coming up from behind Tsuyu. "Thanks to you, Sensei," he said, uncharacteristically kindly. "But Thirteen, he…"

Aizawa nodded again, signalling that he understood. "Kirishima. Was anyone injured?"

"Nah. Todoroki wasn't feeling so great after he overused his quirk so much, but he's fine now."

"Sorry," Aizawa said wearily, "my fault."

"No," Todoroki said, finally walking in, "Kirishima's exaggerating, I was fine." A few moments after he finished, Iida chose to follow him rather than to stay outside and carefully not listen to Nedzu and Recovery Girls' heavy discussion.

"That's good," Aizawa muttered.

"Aizawa-sensei," Tsuyu mumbled, "I'm sorry. I should have fought harder."

"No," Aizawa reprimanded, "you should have ran, with everyone else."

"But Sensei-"

"If you continue, Asui, I'll judge that you've become arrogant and give you detention," Aizawa said, smiling ever so slightly. "And I'll lecture you throughout, too."

"Sorry, Aizawa-sensei!" Tsuyu said quickly. "But… I'm sorry."

Todoroki added, "I'm sorry, too," right after his friend did, the hurry he said it in and the non-existent gap between the quick succession of their two apologies awkward despite their sincerity.

"It's okay," Aizawa reassured. Apprehensively, he reached down to grope for the edge of his blankets and tugged them up slightly.

"Aizawa-sensei," Iida asked slowly, "will you be returning to class?"

"Yes," he replied. "Soon." He paused in a way that clearly indicated he was trying to remember something he had been wanting to say, and a few seconds later, asked, "Why are you all here so late?"

Alarmed, all four of them made desperate eye-contact, before Iida quickly mustered up a technically true lie and said, "Er, we were just studying together was all. The school is a convenient place to meet, and we overheard when the message was delivered to Principal Nedzu…"

Aizawa nodded. "I see. Why don't you go continue rather than waste your time here? I'm fine."

Laggardly, Iida and Kirishima did, still wordless faced with their teacher. Todoroki did as well, but lingered by the doorway and stared at Tsuyu, silently begging her to ask what he couldn't.

"...Sensei, you really are okay, aren't you?"

"I'm fine."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: To be honest, I hadn't been planning on continuing this story, but a guest going by the name "ZYLA" happened upon this mess and left a nice review that reminded me that I had part of the next chapter already written, so I went and completed it. I'm not sure if I have time to write more than this, but I'll do my best to keep going.**

 **And thanks, ZYLA! Your review was really encouraging.**

* * *

On Monday morning, it was not Present Mic who greeted the students and listlessly went through the class' morning procedures.

Aizawa did, instead, one hand trailing against the wall and each step uncertain and uneven, heel hovering above the ground for just a moment to test before putting his full weight on it. Slowly, he made his way around the outside of the classroom, following the wall's outline until he found his desk and sat down carefully.

He was met with silence, already subdued students all stopping their conversations at once and staring at him almost unbelievingly until Mina shouted, "Aizawa-sensei!" and everybody copied.

"Yes, I'm back," he agreed lamely, unsure of how to respond to his welcome. And then, deciding to try and push things back towards normalcy, he asked, "Has Mic talked to you about the Sports Festival?" He was met with murmurs of "sort of" and "just a bit", so he went ahead and continued, "In that case, I'll take your attendance, go over a few things, and then explain how the Sports Festival will be working this year. I'm going off of memory, so say something if I miss you or if I miss someone whom you know is away. Ashido, Mina?"

"Here!" she called back, and they got through the rest of the students without any issue.

"Alright, now that that's over with," Aizawa said, "I think you've all noticed that I'm blind and have realised by now, but my classes will be operated a bit differently from now on. I can't see you hands, so just shout out if you need anything or want to answer a question. I'll do my best with writing on the board, but ask if I mess anything up. I won't be marking any more of your written tests either. And, don't take advantage of the lack of visual supervision to do anything you wouldn't normally, I'll still notice."

He was responded to with overwhelming positivity again, the students agreeing with vigour.

He smiled slightly, and continued. "Now, for the Sports Festival. I'm not sure how much Mic has told you, but you'll be competing in fighting, obstacle courses, and games, in both teams and alone. You won't be getting the perks of your costumes, either, since you have to wear a uniform during the festival. It'll be broadcast live on television, and you'll be in a stadium full of spectators as well. Present Mic will be commentating and Midnight is the one in charge this year, so expect some spontaneous changes to the rules. More importantly, your performance here will be watched and judged by many pro heroes, and how-" He was interrupted by the bell ringing, signalling to him to go to his next class. Blankly, he turned his head towards the source of the sound, and began to talk more quickly. "Hold on, this is important. How well you do decides who will sponsor you during workplace training. Additionally, if you do exceptionally poorly, you could be dropped out of U.A. Academy's heroics program and into general education. Make sure you prepare and do everything in your power to go beyond and excel. I expect to have the top three competitors all from class A-1; don't disappoint me." Rising unsteadily, he felt his way out of the room, continuing equally slowly down the hall until he reached the first class to teach of the day. Several of his students, he recognised the voices of Ochaco and Tsuyu, offered to help him to his destination, but he refused them adamantly, saying that he would be fine, and set off alone.

* * *

"Welcome, come in. Feel free to let yourselves in from now on."

Kirishima, Tsuyu, Todoroki, and Iida walked into Nedzu's office again, their gradually increasing comfort in the room becoming apparent as they all sat down without being asked to.

Nedzu pushed the door shut behind them, and jumped up to stand on his desk. "I've made arrangements for a better meeting space, but it will be a while before it is usable. You'll have to cope with this room for another couple of weeks. And, Todoroki, I trust that you've come up with a good hero name for yourself, now? You've had the entire weekend to think about it."

"No," he retorted shortly. "I already chose one and you refused it."

"You can't keep your normal name for this, it can't be so difficult to understand this. If you insist on being difficult, though, this isn't a matter so important that I have to remain resolute on, however. Do any of you have any names for your friend?"

"HotIce?" Kirishima suggested. "Or Double-Temperature Man? Frostburn? Half'n'Half? Dairy Queen's got that weird slogan that fits you, too, what was it again? Hot eats, cool treats, I think? Um… I dunno, Endeavor 2.0?"

Todoroki let out a puff of breath and glared at Kirishima at the last suggestion, although the edges of his lips were tilted slightly up by the second-to-last name, albeit grudgingly and completely overshadowed by his frown and anger. "Todoroki Shouto. I'm going to be Todoroki Shouto."

"Come on, Todoroki," Iida berated, "don't be like that. Kirishima had some good ideas there. How about 'Endure', after your father's name?"

"I said no!" Todoroki snarled viciously.

"Calm down, Todoroki," Nedzu said. "Do you have any preference in name? If not, then I would personally recommend Frostburn, out of all those said already, or perhaps, 'Duosion', if you'd prefer something more abstract."

Dark smile suddenly gracing him, Todoroki said shrewdly, "'Second'. I'll take 'Second' as my hero name."

Nedzu looked up and rubbed at his chin, hemming and musing to himself before eventually saying, "That should work. Inferior, I but I suppose there are enough unique reasons behind it to justify it. It is interesting considering that you only use half you powers, or the second part of your quirk. The homage to your father is subtle enough to be allowed, as well."

Todoroki frowned immediately at the mention of it being a reference to Endeavor, and would spend the rest of the day looking displeased whenever the comment came to his mind. Naturally, he didn't respond, suppressing any urge to announce that the name was to honour Thirteen and spite Endeavor, nothing more.

"Now," Nedzu continued, sitting down on his desk and allowing his short legs to swing idly, "originally, I was planning to continue yesterday's character-familiarisation today, but a more important matter has come to my attention that I think we should cover first. So far, only All Might, you four, and I are involved in, or even aware of this project. While we'd prefer to keep it discreet, it would not be a fatal blow if word were to get out, so I've been thinking about recruiting more pro heroes to help you so that you can each be trained individually when the time comes, by professionals with similar quirks to yours. If I were to integrate more people into this, who would you like to be your personal tutors?"

Iida and Tsuyu both responded quickly, saying "my brother, Ingenium," and "Aizawa-sensei," respectively.

Nedzu met them both with frowns, and said, "I don't think so. I'd rather we keep it within the school anyways; it's easier for me to manage that way. I'm not familiar with Ingenium myself, either, so I'll have to meet him and make sure he's fit for the job first. I trust Aizawa and his skill as a teacher, and his own abilities and styles suit yours, but blinded as he is, I don't think he'll be able to train you in detail, Tsuyu. Actually, I was thinking of Cementoss for you, Todoroki, as his quirk is functionally similar to yours. I'll consider Ingenium and Aizawa, but I'll be hunting for others to train you and I'd like the rest of you to keep a lookout on the news as well. Now, let's continue with yesterday's task. Would you prefer to continue the previous situation, or begin a new one?"

* * *

Shinshou Hitoshi hovered outside the door to Nedzu's office, scowling and muttering several resentful remarks to himself under his breath as he listened to what was happening inside, the letter he was supposed to deliver to the principal long forgotten. He hadn't gotten there early enough to know exactly what was happening right away, but the conversation he had expected to be about some of his classmates getting scolded for doing something wrong had turned out to be a very stilted conversation about buying fish and fried ice cream at a restaurant after a fight, which had confused him enough to cause him to wait to open the door just so he could find out was was happening.

It had begun to make sense soon enough, when Nedzu interrupted them and gave them feedback on whatever they were doing, he had also happened to throw in information about how they were to become "a specially trained group of students to become the top heroes of the next generation" and that "they had been specifically selected for their quirks and personalities."

Of course. So that was why he thought he had heard the voice of Todoroki, Tsuyu and Iida, three classmates he didn't think would be in the principal's office for misbehaviour. It must have been their quirks or their families' fame; they just happened to be born lucky enough to be involved in something like this. Of course, someone weak, like Hagakure, or someone with an evil quirk, like him, would never be allowed to participate in that.

He had thought that U.A.'s administrators weren't a bunch of self-righteous egotists after he had found himself accepted into the heroics course, had thought that they weren't completely close-minded and blind even to what was right in front of them, but, seeing this, he knew he had been wrong. Somehow, he had brute-forced his way through the entrance exam without a usable quirk.

Trying to calm his breathing to quiet it so that he wouldn't be discovered, Shinsou leaned an ear towards the door again, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to catch up with the conversation again.

He stepped away from the door bristling with fury, jealousy welling up and pushing against his insides so intensely that he thought he felt the pain physically.

It didn't matter.

Even if everybody thought he was going to become a villain, even if nobody that he could become a real hero, he would. And he would become number one, special treatment to the ones who didn't deserve it be damned. He was the one who worked to strengthen his mind, body and quirk every day, he was the one who had worked at all. Not them. Him.

Letter to Nedzu stuffed into his pocket and long forgotten, Shinsou stormed to the school's gym and trained with a passion that surpassed everything he had ever had before.

* * *

Aizawa was waiting in the teacher's lounge for Present Mic to finish whatever work he had to complete during the after hours of school when someone came in and greeted him, Nedzu, judging by the mousey voice.

"Nedzu," he replied politely. "I was going to ask you later, but since we're alone right now anyways. Were my students really staying after class to study?"

"You think they were lying?" Nedzu questioned, although it was not at all challenging and more of a relaxed beginning to an amiable discussion.

"Yeah. Seems too lucky that they'd just happen to be in earshot, and the ones involved aren't the ones I'd peg to be studying late."

"While I do understand your skepticism," Nedzu said calmly, "there really is nothing going on right now."

"I could just ask them," Aizawa said drily. "They're not good liars. Even if they wouldn't say anything, I don't think it would be too hard for me to find out what was happening."

"Ah, all right," Nedzu said, finally. "I've been thinking of letting you in on it all anyways, and I'm sure Tsuyu would be pleased to have her request fulfilled. It's a project All Might and I have been working on; your friend should be here soon though, so drop by my office before class starts tomorrow morning and I'll fill you in then. Do try to keep this quiet."

"Right."

After going to the counter in the room and pouring himself a cup of tea, he left, leaving Aizawa alone again until Present Mic entered the room a few minutes later to guide him to the teachers' dorms a couple buildings away from the main school.

"Hey," Mic said conversationally, "I heard that Nedzu's planning to change all the empty space on the lower parts of the living areas into student dorms."

"...Interesting," Aizawa said eventually. "The logic is that the students can be better supervised and protected from villains here while also protecting their families by keeping them out of the picture, correct? So Blood King and Ectoplasm will have to move a floor up, I suppose."

"Yeah, I think so too! I've got empty rooms surrounding me, d'you think I'll get new neighbours?"

"I don't know," Aizawa said. "Whoever it is will probably end up sharing with someone anyways, considering how loud you are."

"Aw, c'mon, Shouta! That's not a nice thing to say to your friend!"

"Hm," he said good-humouredly, and then his voice suddenly dropped and darkened. "Mic," he muttered, "do you have the paperwork?"

"Hey!" Mic shouted, betrayed and quite a bit too loudly. "You said that you weren't going to talk about it and promised that you were going to wait and think it over first!"

"I've made up my mind," Aizawa said stoutly. "Do you have it or do I have to go get it myself tomorrow?"


End file.
